--> Abstract: Evaluating Trembley Oil Field as a Test of Chemical Flooding in a Lansing Kansas-City Reservoir, by Anthony Walton and P. J. Senior; #90176 (2013)

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Evaluating Trembley Oil Field as a Test of Chemical Flooding in a Lansing Kansas-City Reservoir

Anthony Walton and P. J. Senior

Trembley oil field, in Reno County, Kansas, is a good candidate for a project to demonstrate the effectiveness of surfactant chemical flooding as an enhanced oil recovery (EOR) method. It resembles a common class of oil fields in the state, i.e. it produces from a thin bed (12 feet maximum) of oolitic grainstone in the Pennsylvanian Lansing-Kansas City (LKC) interval, specifically the L-zone or Hertha Limestone. Porosity ranges up to 33%, and primary production was by fluid expansion drive, rather than water drive. OOIP has been estimated at 1.7 to 2 million bbls. Seven successful wells were drilled in the field; two have been converted to injectors. Like many LKC fields, Trembley has been a successful waterflood. The field has produced 541,175 bbls of oil through October 2012 and continues to produce at about 3000 bbls/year from 3 producing wells. About 284,000 bbls were produced during primary and over 260,000 bbls during the waterflood. Production has declined to near break-even levels, despite the fact that calculations of reservoir volume indicate that up to 3/4 of the oil remains in place, providing a tempting target for enhanced oil recovery. While Trembley, like many LKC fields, is so small or so shallow (average depth 3491') that CO2 flooding may not be feasible, chemical flooding is an option. Among the reasons that the Trembley field is a good demonstration project is the availability of good geological, petrophysical, and production data. The data permit useful modeling of the recovery process and comparison to the option of doing nothing. It is also a small field, so a comprehensive demonstration project can be done at a reasonable cost. On the other hand, production patterns indicate that two of the wells are separated from the others by a permeability barrier; those wells are temporarily abandoned. 

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90176©AAPG Mid-Continent Meeting, Wichita, Kansas, October 12-15, 2013